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Just a quick note to send good wishes to you and your family for the holiday season.

For the past few years, I have done an Elf Yourself video to bring some cheer to the holidays. But I have to say, this year, I was less than impressed with the selection of video options. I ended up doing 2 of them, and think they are not my best work (you know me, always the critic).

In addition, the site has a lot of problems loading the video. So please be patient (apparently 2013 was the year of internet technical difficulties – Obama’s Healthcare site isn’t the only one having problems).

When I was having issues with the Elf Yourself site, I searched for another option to share in my annual letter. I found this great video that I like for a number of reasons:

1. It features a parody of one of my favorite songs from the Musical Wicked (and you know me and musicals!).2. It demonstrates some terrific, creative, out of the box thinking by the young man who did the video. He took 2 ideas you wouldn’t normally put together and joined them beautifully.3. It shows a terrific use of resources – when you don’t have a singing partner, be your own partner! I think that is a good life lesson. (No this is not twins singing – the boy does both parts).

I am not a fan of blogs that unnecessarily vilify companies for bad performance. But I also really hate bad customer service. After almost 11 phones calls and numerous email attempts to correct a situation with a company, I decided I needed to share this horrible customer service experience with others so that we can all learn from their mistake (and I get to vent a little of my frustration). When I am done with my little story, you will be asking yourself “why am I still with them?” I keep asking myself the same question. Frankly, I am searching for a replacement and welcome your suggestions.

It all started one dark and snowy morning (like any good story does) with my laptop freezing up. I called Lenovo who told me it was a software problem and they connected me to their “software department.” What they didn’t tell me was that their software department was a separate company, located in India, called Iyogi. The person there said my warranty didn’t cover software, but they could fix my problem for $139 and for an extra $100 I could get 2 full years of their software support service plus free McAfee. Desperate for help (and thinking this was all with Lenovo), I agreed.

They entered my computer remotely and attempted a fix. But they did it incorrectly and after the call, I realized they had not removed the virus. So I repeated the virus removal process the correct way and fixed it myself. McAfee would not run updates (which virus software needs to have to be effective). Despite a second person trying, we could not get it to run an update. On the 3rd phone call, I was told there was a bug with McAfee and their Iyogi support system, and it was going to be fixed soon.

Now my odyssey of phone calls and emails begins. I called to complain that I paid for help and they were ineffective. And that I was paying for McAfee and it wasn’t working either. I wanted a $100 refund. I was promised the refund by the woman on the phone. But instead of giving me a $100 refund, she gave me a full refund, and unknown to me, canceled my service.

So 1 month later, when I called for assistance, I was told I was no longer a subscriber. I demanded the same thing I was promised before and told I couldn’t have it. The best they could do was 1 year at $239 plus 3 months extra for free. And of course, the confirmation email I received included only the 1 year but not the 3 months free. And still, McAfee was not working (and is still not working today).

Each time I called or emailed, I was told “an email confirming the 3 months free was on its way.” And each time, I would ask to speak to a supervisor who told me it was getting approved. On my 6th phone call on this issue, I asked to speak to the president. They refused. So I asked for his email address. They would not give it to me. They said I could reach Mr. Uday Challu by emailing support at support@iyogi.net. I have not yet sent that email, as I thought I might get more attention if I referenced this blog in my email.

With my last phone call, I made the woman wait on the phone until her email arrived. I did finally get the confirmation of the 3 months free (but never got what I was originally promised which was $100 refund and 2 full years). This was a totally unsatisfactory experience, handled poorly at every level. The people are clearly not well trained and they do not deliver on their services or support promises. That Lenovo would associate themselves with such a disaster of a company is disappointing.

Thanks for letting me vent that and for any other suggestions for support services I might use.